Showing papers in "Perceptual and Motor Skills in 1980"

Role of foveal and peripheral visual information in maintenance of postural equilibrium in man.

Abstract: In a previous report (Amblard & Cremieux, 1976) we demonstrated that the maintenance of postural equilibrium, measured with the subject in Mann's stance on a foam rubber support, was significantly more difficult under stroboscopic rather than normal lighting conditions. The most plausible cause of the difficulty is the subject's loss of visual perception of movement as a result of the stroboscopic lighting. The present study was designed to look at this factor under normal lighting conditions. Also, the relative contributions of foveal and peripheral vision were assessed. During stance, the subjects (5 women and 6 men, aged from 25 to 55 yr.) viewed either a horizontal or a vertical rectangular grating. With horizontal lines, the visual perception of lateral movement is minimized. Lateral acceleration was measured at three anatomical levels: ankles, hips, and head. The horizontal stripe condition was significantly less effective than the vertical stripe one for maintenance of balance, both for measurements at the head level only and for values averaged from all three levels. Balance was significantly impaired with foveal vision alone compared to full vision or to peripheral vision alone, for measurements from each of the three levels. We conclude that the visual perception of movement is a very important factor in the maintenance of the equilibrium, peripheral vision playing the major role, and foveal vision only a supplementary one.

Lucid Dreaming as a Learnable Skill: A Case Study

Abstract: The author was the subject in an investigation of the feasibility of learning to dream lucidly, i.e., while knowing that one is dreaming. During the 3-yr. study, the subject recorded a total of 389 lucid dreams and developed a mnemonic technique for the voluntary induction of lucid dreams (MILD). Without using any induction procedure, the subject reported less than 1 lucid dream per month. Using auto-suggestion resulted in a range of 1 to 13 lucid dreams per month (M = 5.4), with at most 2 per night. MILD yielded 18 to 26 lucid dreams per month (M = 21.5), with up to 4 per night.

Role of Structured Visual Field and Visual Reafference in Accuracy of Pointing Movements

Abstract: In a visuo-motor pointing task, the accuracy of response was measured in situations which differ in the visual information available and the speed of execution of movement. Results confirm the role of visual cues received from self-produced movement in the control of the trajectory of a limb. Furthermore, it can be shown that a structured visual background is important in the treatment of sensory data concerned with the movement and in target localization. This effect is absent in rapidly executed pointing response.

Neuropsychological study of children during and after remission of endogenous depressive episodes.

Abstract: 2 children experiencing endogenous depressive episodes show impaired cognitive functioning. Following tricyclic antidepressant-induced remission of depression, there was significant improvement in psychometric test performance.

Relation between Planning and Simultaneous-Successive Processing:

Abstract: The simultaneous-successive processing battery and five tests reputed to measure planning were administered to 104 Grade 8 male and female students. Test scores were submitted to principal componen...

Memory Deficits in Depression: Evidence Utilizing the Wechsler Memory Scale:

Abstract: The performance of 21 hospitalized depressed patients was compared to a matched group of 21 controls on the Wechaler Memory Scale. The depressed patients showed deficits on Mental Control, Verbal Learning, and Visual Reproduction tasks, which indicate impairment of memory functions in depression. There may be a deficit in the attention and alerting mechanism of depressed patients.

Time estimation among schizophrenics

Abstract: Studies of time estimation among schizophrenics have sometimes been difficult to integrate with one another because of differing methodologies and inconsistent definitions. The present study should increase clarity by employing several methods of time estimation within the same study and maintaining a consistent definition of overestimation and underestimation across tasks. 26 schizophrenic and 26 control subjects were given three types of time-estimation tasks. Longer interval Estimation involved judging, at different points in the interview/testing session, how much time had passed. Verbal Estimation required subjects to judge the length of brief intervals signalled by the examiner. Operative Estimation required subjects to indicate when a specified number of seconds had passed. Schizophrenic subjects were significantly more inaccurate than controls in the Verbal and Operative Estimation tasks. Moreover, with overestimation defined consistently as judging more time to have passed than actually has, both Verbal and Operative Estimation results indicated schizophrenics were significantly more likely to overestimate. These results indicate support for the suggestion that schizophrenics have a disturbed sense of time, with real (clock) time experienced as passing more slowly than is actually the case. Long Interval Estimation produced quite different results, but it was felt that the retrospective and unfocused nature of the time judgments in this task made it a less valid indicator of ability to estimate.

Effect of teacher's gaze on children's story recall

Abstract: Two studies utilize a repeated-measures design to compare the story-recall performances of 46 primary-school children who were administered stories in the presence and absence of teacher's gaze. Analysis indicates a significant positive relationship between gaze and recall, especially among boys. These findings are discussed in terms of the literature on the effects of eye contact and teacher's expectancies.

Mood Profiles of Marathon Runners, Joggers and Non-Exercisers:

Abstract: 10 marathon runners and 10 joggers reported less depression on an adjective check list than 10 non-exercisers, as well as less confusion, more vigor Marathoners scored better on each than joggers

Relation of Intelligence to Childhood Depression in Children Referred to an Educational Diagnostic Center.

Abstract: With the development and application of specific diagnostic criteria, depression has been clarified as a major cause of behavioral disturbance in children. 62% of a group of 100 prepubertal children with school problems fulfilled the criteria for childhood depression. There was no significant difference in age, sex, grade level, intelligence quotient, or school skills achievement in the depressed versus nondepressed children. The family history was positive for psychiatric illness in 71% and for depression in 42% of the depressed children. In the depressed children, episodic hyperactivity and secondary enuresis were evident during the depressive episode.

Group Embedded-Figures Test: psychometric data.

Abstract: The study examined the performance of 266 undergraduates on the Group Embedded-figures Test. Item analyses, distribution characteristics, internal consistency, sex differences, and differences across independent samples were examined.

Smooth pursuit eye movements, schizophrenia, and distraction

Abstract: This study tested whether smooth pursuit eye-movement dysfunctions, prevalent in a large population of schizophrenic patients, are distinguishable from impaired pursuit induced in normals by a distracting task. Results showed clear qualitative and quantitative distinctions between records of 23 distracted normals and those of 15 schizophrenics.

Relationship between self-esteem and depression among high school students

Abstract: 26 students, males and females, aged 15 through 18 yr. referred to the school psychologist for assessment participated in the study to determine the relationship between self-esteem and depression in high school students. Each subject was administered a self-esteem checklist and two measures of depression on one occasion. The correlations between self-esteem and depression were significant (.34 to .75) for both measures of depression.

Videotape feedback effects on tennis serving form

Abstract: Summary.-This study was designed to assess the effects of videotape feedback, under various temporal conditions, on the improvement in performance of a closed skill-the tennis serve. The subjects (48 advanced beginner and 48 intermediate tennis players) were randomly assigned to four treatment groups: (1) Gntrol-no video feedback, (2) Early-subjects received videotape feedback during the early stages of the instructional cycle, (3) Middlevideotape feedback was administered midway through the cycle, and (4) Cornbination-videotape feedback was administered during both the early and middle' stages of the instructional cycle. Posttest performances, using pretest scores as covariates, on five phases of the serve (footwork, body movement, ball toss, arm pattern-phase I, and arm pattern-phase 11) were statistically analyzed to assess treatment effects. Performance scores for the three feedback groups were significantly better than for the control group for all subjects on the arm pattern-phase I part of the serve, and for the intermediate level subjects on the footwork phase of the serve. No significant differences among the three feedback groups suggest that temporal location is not related to effectiveness of videotape feedback. It is concluded that videotape feedback may be an effective supplement to the more traditional instructor-provided feedback only in limited situations and special conditions. It may not be as generally effective as its current popularicy and widespread use seems to indicate. Use of videotape replay as a means of providing feedback during motor skill instruction has become increasingly popular. It is commonly used in many types of physical activity classes in public education as well as for commercial instruction in such places as tennis colleges, golf dubs, racketball clubs, and on the ski slopes. However, evidence of its effectiveness as an instructional tool is far from persuasive. Positive effects of videotape feedback have been found by Plese (1968), Hampton ( 1970), and Del Rey ( 1971) on skill acquisition in gymnastics, shot put, and fencing, respectively. No positive effects were found in a study involving bowling (Caine, 1966) or on trampoline performance (Penman, Bartz, & Davis, 1968). In a review of the abstracts of over 50 Master's theses and doctoral dissertations involving use of videotape feedback, Rothstein and Arnold (1976) report that 19 of the studies showed significant positive effects, whereas, 33 indicated no significant effects.

Signal Detection Analysis of Visual Flicker in Deaf and Hearing Individuals

Abstract: A comparison of deaf and hearing subjects on temporal visual resolving power was conducted within a signal-detection paradigm. Subjects were required to make forced-choice judgments of a visual-flicker task under three stimulus probability conditions (0.25, 0.50, 0.75). A total of 600 trials were given each subject from which d' and Beta, indices for sensory sensitivity and response bias respectively, were computed. No significant differences existed on sensory sensitivity or response bias which questions some traditional assumptions about sensory compensation.

Preliminary investigation of transfer between single-word decoding ability and contextual reading comprehension by poor readers in grade six

Abstract: The study sought to investigate transfer between single-word decoding skill and contextual reading comprehension using 60 sixth grade pupils classified as 30 poor and 30 very poor readers. There were two training groups, content-specific and non-content-specific. One group received single-word decoding training, which led to decoding mastery of all words to be read in narrative prose passages and the accompanying literal and inferential comprehension questions. The other group learned to identify and pronounce words, equal in difficulty and number to those of the content-specific group but never a part of the passages and questions for the study. Pupils given content-specific training answered significantly more literal and inferential questions correctly than did those given non-content-specific training. It is suggested that there is transfer between single-word decoding skill and contextual, literal and inferential comprehension.

Relationship between learning disabilities and juvenile delinquency

Abstract: Juvenile delinquency in the United States is increasing in incidence, and children are becoming involved in delinquent activity at a much younger age. Learning disabilities have been associated with juvenile delinquency. Learning disabled children are labeled by teachers and peers as different, which may alienate them from "normal society." If children reject social institutions (such as school), they may seek alternative, frequently delinquent, activities. Learning disabled children must be identified so that programs which minimize the disability while emphasizing the children's strengths can be instituted. Since adjudicated delinquents of normal intelligence show a significant degree of academic underachievement, correctional programs must recognize the possibility of learning disability. Vocational training emphasizing an individual's strengths can be an effective alternative to traditional educational programs for delinquent juveniles.

Personality Traits in Martial Artists: A Descriptive Approach:

Abstract: This paper reviews the findings of four studies of selected personality traits of martial artists. Item analysis was used for descriptive purposes and applied to responses to the Buss-Durkee Hostiliry Inventory used in one of them. This yielded suspicion as an active factor for 152 karate students. Groups at intermediate ranks showed a greater variety of hostile modes of expression than either beginner or advanced groups. Assault items were not popular in the group as a whole. Evidence supports both cathartic and circular theories of aggression. Internal validity of scales was determined. The implications of the findings are discussed and the possible contributing influence of physical activity, meditation, and self-defense are considered.

Classification of Figural Spatial Tests

Abstract: A classification of figural spatial tests was derived from sorting more than 300 tests according to perceived similarity of behaviors required for task solution. Task categories were then ordered i...

Self-touching, performance, and attentional processes

Abstract: Previous observations in our laboratory suggested that self-touching, the continuous movements of the hands on the body or onto each other, would increase during periods of attentional disruption or interference. The present study explored this notion further by testing whether or not variation in self-touching is associated with variation in performance in three different experimental tasks. The results indicate that certain types of continuous self-touching are consistently and significantly associated with three different performance measures. Since performance in a task is usually viewed as involving attentional processes, the present findings suggest a link between activity of hands and variations in the effective deployment of attention.

Effects of motor and verbal practice on the Stroop task.

Abstract: Motor responses to the Stroop task have been largely ignored despite almost a century of active research on verbal responses to the test. The Stroop task maximizes verbal interference by asking subjects to ignore the stimulus word, e.g., red, and respond to the color of the ink in which the work is printed, e.g., blue. A few recent studies have suggested that motor responses (pressing color-coded buttons) might minimize this interference phenomenon presumably via bypassing the usual verbal processing mechanisms. This study compared motor and verbal responses and provided extensive practice. There were no over-all significant differences between motor and verbal responding although motor responses were faster. Significant practice effects and a significant interaction of response mode by practice suggest that motor responding reacts more rapidly to practice effects.

Effects of ball size, ball color, and preferred color on catching by young children.

Abstract: 45 males and 45 females between 7 and 8 years of age were required to catch rubber playground balls which varied in both size and color. Prior to the administration of the criterion catch test, subjects indicated their choice for a preferred color ball. Analysis indicated that the 6-in. balls (diameter) were caught significantly better than were 10-in. balls. Although the main effect of ball color was nonsignificant, the children caught balls of preferred color significantly better than those of non-preferred colors. Males scored significantly higher than the females on the catching task.

Reliability and validity of the group embedded figures test across the life span

Abstract: Data from a previous investigation were reanalyzed to determine the split-half reliability and two forms of validity, i.e., internal consistency and construct, of the Group Embedded Figures Test across the life span. Subjects were 175 females, ranging in age from 17 to 72 yr., who fell into one of seven age groups. The Group Embedded Figures had adequate split-half reliability for the entire sample and for each age group. Significant, consistent differences between performance on Parts II and III of the GEFT were found. Estimates of internal consistency were adequate. Though satisfactory construct validity for the total correct on Parts II and III was obtained as correlations with the Portable-Rod-and-Frame Test for the entire sample, the construct validity of the Group Embedded Figures and separate parts was not adequately demonstrated within all age groups.

Review of research on reversal errors.

Abstract: This review focuses on the phenomenon of reversals: the tendency for children, especially those with reading difficulties, to make errors of orientation ("b-d") or sequencing ("was-saw"). After a brief historical (Orton) and theoretical (Gibson) look at the phenomenon, a variety of studies on reversals is reviewed and evaluated. The first group of studies reviewed and discussed involves neurological and psychological factors associated with reversals, e.g., age, training. The second set of investigations summarizes the literature relating reversals to reading disabilities and to future reading achievement.

Fluid and crystallized intelligence: effects of diffuse brain damage on the WAIS.

Abstract: In the 1940's two forms of intelligence, fluid and crystallized, were postulated. Active mental processing (WAIS performance subtests) were fluid while well learned abilities (WAIS verbal subtests) were crystallized. Brain damage was considered to affect fluid abilities more than crystallized. WAIS scores comparing normal and diffusely organically damaged subjects indicated that, as hypothesized, the verbal subtests were more affected than the performance subtests.

An Adaptive-Rate Continuous Performance Test: Vigilance Characteristics and Reliability for 400 Male Students

Abstract: Summary-An adaptive-rate Continuous Performance Task for the assessment of human performance has been developed based on the original method of Rosvold, et al (1956) The stimulus presentation speeds up after correct deteaions and slows down after errors of omission or commission, allowing applications in a wide range of clinical populations and normal age groups Adequate error rates are obtained to characterize each individual's performance Signal detection analysis yields d' and ,8 parameters with adequate test-retest reliability over G mo A specific decline in d' over time is consistent with other studies of human vigilance Disorders of attention are prominent experimental laboratory findings in both hyperactivity (Douglas, 1772) Ad schizophrenia (Venables, 1964; Garmezy, 1978) These findings have led many theorists to view attention deficits as fundamental to both diseases Some authors have also suggested that neurochemical and electrophysiological mechanisms of attention may provide a key for understanding these illnesses (Weingartner, Rapoport, Buchsbaum, Bunney, Ebert, Mikkelsen, & Caine, in press; Buchsbaum, Murphy, Coursey, Lake, & Zeigler, 1978) One measurement of attention which has been used frequently in both normal and clinical populations is the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) This test provides a measure of vigilance or sustained attention which differentiates hyperactive children from normal children (Douglas, 1972) and longterm remitted schizophrenics from normals (Kornetsky, 1972; Kornetsky & Mirsky, 1966; Orzack & Kornetsky, 1966) After finding that remitted schizophrenics continued to show deficits in performance, Wohlberg and Kornetsky (1973) suggested that the task might be a useful predictor of vulnerability Subsequently, Rutschmam, Cornblatt, and Erlenmeyer-Kimling (1977) reported decreased vigilance performance on such a task by the children of schizophrenics in comparison to the children of matched controls The Continuous Performance Test has also proved sensitive to drug effects, especially amphetamine (Rapoport, Buchsbaum, Zahn, Weingartner, Ludlow, & Mikkelsen, 1978)

Bias in Attributions of Positive and Negative Behavior in Children by School Psychologists, Parents, and Teachers

Abstract: 24 parents, 24 school psychologists, and 27 elementary school teachers viewed films of three different children and rated them using a 20-item, 9-point Likert-type instrument. The hypothesis that perceived socio-economic status and ethnic identification would differentially affect the three rater groups' attributions of positive and negative behavior was tested and supported. Results indicated that the three groups of raters were markedly different in their ratings of these children and that the children were rated more positively or negatively as a function of their socio-economic status and ethnic identification rather than as a function of their observable behavior.

Anxiety reduction in hospitalized schizophrenics through thermal biofeedback and relaxation training.

Abstract: Biofeedback training and muscular relaxation have therapeutic value for general reduction of tension in non-patient and patient populations. The present study investigated the efficacy of thermal biofeedback and relaxation as adjunctive treatments to antipsychotic medication for reduction of anxiety in 40 hospitalized schizophrenics who were randomly assigned assigned to four groups: biofeedback, relaxation, biofeedback and relaxation, and minimal treatment control. Significant reduction in anxiety followed treatment, but there were no between-group differences. One-year follow-up and post boc analyses indicated a subgroup of "anxious" schizophrenics who showed substantial reduction in anxiety following treatment with biofeedback and relaxation.